


The View from Above

by anonymous_moose



Series: Sizzle It Up! with Taako and Co. [4]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Canon, Recreational Drug Use, family: found style, insecurity: angus style, parenting: taako style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 06:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymous_moose/pseuds/anonymous_moose
Summary: It's a beautiful morning on a hill in the Dales, and Angus knows something isn't right.Taako imbibes. Angus inquires.





	The View from Above

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this a couple weeks ago and didn't know what to do with it. Couldn't find a place for it in the longer story, but it's a complete thought and requires no context, so here it is.

Angus climbed out of bed with a yawn, stretched his arms above his head, then touched his toes. He fumbled for his glasses by the sink, and brushed his teeth in his usual systemic way. He thought about getting dressed, but decided to wait until after breakfast; there’d be a spill sometimes (usually caused by Taako) and Angus never liked to waste a spell early in the day just cleaning his shirt.

He opened the door to the wagon and stepped down the short wooden stairs. The sun was just over the horizon, hanging in a cloudless sky and casting the whole of the Dales in a brilliant orange glow. Angus stepped towards the edge of the small mountain that they’d made camp on, and held a hand up to shield his eyes. The view was spectacular — he could see for miles around, down into the foothills and valleys and vineyards that characterized one of the more famous vacation destinations in Faerun.

Angus thought about waking up Taako and Kravitz to see it, but when he turned his head a little, he found he didn’t have to.

Taako was sitting on the grass by the edge of the hill, elbows on his knees. He was alone, staring placidly into the distance. There was something in his hand Angus didn’t recognize until he brought it up and took a drag off it.

He had never seen Taako smoke anything before, but there was no mistaking the long-stemmed wooden pipe or the sharp exhale of smoke from his mouth. He moved casually, without thinking, idly tapping the stem of the pipe against his leg.

As was his nature, Angus found this scene very curious. How had he never seen Taako smoke when he was so clearly comfortable doing so?

He padded over quietly, grass tickling at his bare feet. “Good morning, sir,” he said.

Taako didn’t startle, didn’t even look up for a handful of moments. When he did, nothing about his expression changed, and he went back to staring out at the valley almost immediately.

“Hey, Angus.”

The use of his actual name didn’t escape Angus’ notice. He tugged at the bottom of his sleep shirt, suddenly nervous that he was intruding. “Where’s Mr. Kravitz?” he asked.

“Still asleep,” Taako replied flatly. “Didn’t wanna wake him.”

“Why not?”

Taako took a drag off his pipe, held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly. He shrugged, and said nothing.

Angus tried to track his eyes, see if there were something in particular Taako was staring at, but had no success. He swallowed and asked, “Do... do you want to be alone, sir?”

Taako took another drag, smaller, and puffed it out in a lazy smoke ring. He sniffed, and shrugged again. “Eh.”

Neither a dismissal nor an invitation, Angus was left to make his own decision about how to proceed. His mind was well-adapted to situations like these — the analyzation of motivation and behavior, of discerning meaning behind calculated words and actions, and because of who he traveled with, he got more practice at those skills than most.

Angus knew Taako well enough now to know that if he wanted to be alone, he would say as much. But he also knew that, despite appearances, Taako conducted himself socially with a great deal of control; his persona was simultaneously a genuine reflection of his interior self and a carefully-crafted facade, and though they had spent almost a year together, Angus had yet to find all the seams separating the two.

After a moment’s reflection, Angus decided on a course of action he thought best. He went back to his wagon, collected a bit of wrapped cloth from a drawer in his nightstand, and returned to Taako’s side.

“Madeleine?”

Taako blinked slowly and looked at him. Angus stood at a distance with his hands extended, the cloth open to reveal three little sponge cakes.

“I’ve been saving them,” Angus explained. “They always cheer me up.”

Something twinkled in Taako’s eyes. “Cake for breakfast?” he asked, amused.

Angus shuffled his feet. “I mean. I guess?”

Taako smiled crookedly and waved him over. Angus approached and sat down on the grass beside him while Taako plucked a madeleine from his hands and took a bite. Angus quietly ate one of his own, trying not to stare at him for a reaction.

“Made these yourself, didn’t you?” Taako asked, regarding the half-eaten cake approvingly.

Angus swallowed and smiled. “Yes, sir. While you were out shopping last week.”

“Not bad.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Taako popped the remainder into his mouth and chewed slowly, still staring down at the valley. A breeze blew across the hill, and Angus shivered a little — he hadn’t thought to put on his jacket.

“What made you think I needed cheering up?” Taako asked without looking at him.

Angus wrapped the last madeleine back in the cloth and hugged his elbows. “I’ve never seen you smoke before, sir. In my experience, people who do it rarely usually do so in response to stress or depression.”

“In your experience,” Taako repeated, not a little mockingly.

Angus winced. “I just mean—”

“I know what you mean, twerp.”

Taako took another hit off his pipe and sighed out the smoke. Angus went quiet and stared down at his bare feet.

_Why’d you have to say that? Why do you always have to push and prod and press? He’s not a suspect. He’s Taako._

Angus felt his fingers dig into the flesh of his forearms.

_You always manage to screw something up. Always._

He glanced at Taako, and found him staring at him out of the corner of his eye, expression unreadable. Disinterest, maybe?

_Or disappointment._

Angus was about to excuse himself before he did any more damage when Taako held out his pipe. Offering.

_Well, that’s irresponsible._

Angus took it anyway, because it was the only thing to do. He put his lips over the end and inhaled gently, felt a hot burning down his throat and into his lungs, and immediately started coughing.

Taako was grinning again as he took the pipe back. He reached over and slapped Angus gently on the back as his coughing fit subsided.

“Now that cheered me up.”

Angus cleared his throat to try and get rid of the lingering tickling sensation. For some reason, he tasted strawberries. “I hope I—” Cough. “—won’t have to do that every time, sir.”

“Nah,” Taako said mildly, taking a short pull of his own. “First time, last time, my dude. Least until you’re older.”

Angus rubbed at his throat. He realized Taako’s arm had wrapped around his shoulders. He hesitantly scooched closer. Taako neither acknowledged nor objected.

“S’pretty, huh?” Taako offered.

“It sure is, sir.”

Taako dropped his arm down and pulled his cloak up around Angus’ shoulders. The boy felt a warmth in his chest that had little to do with the temperature.

“I’ve never been to the Dales before,” Angus said, for lack of anything better. “Only read about it in books.”

Taako hummed an acknowledgment. “Might know more about it than me. Been a long time since I was here.”

“Really?” Angus asked, looking up at him.

“Yep.” Taako took another drag, long and slow. “Did my first tour here.”

_Oh._

The feeling of the gears ticking over, of the last piece sliding into place, was so familiar and so welcome that Angus almost smiled.

Almost.

Without a word, Angus scooched right up next to Taako and tucked himself against his side. Taako stared down at him for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something, but simply squeezed Angus’ shoulder and looked away.

“Real touristy, last time,” he said quietly.

“Yeah?” Angus asked, as quietly.

“Mhm. Big vacation spot. Lots of caravans.”

Taako tapped his stem of his pipe against his knee. He took one last puff, then turned it over and knocked out the ash.

“Nice place, though,” he said on an exhale. “On the whole. Good people.”

They spent a minute staring out at the Dales together. Angus looked to the horizon and wondered which of the towns he could see would be the one they would travel to that day, and which would be the one they would avoid.

“Hey, Angus?”

He looked up. Taako smiled and took the bundle of cloth from Angus' hand.

“Thanks for the madeleines.”

Angus smiled back and leaned against his side. “Anytime, sir.”

In less than an hour, Kravitz would step out of the wagon. Taako would push himself to his feet and mock him for sleeping in before he started on breakfast. They’d have omelettes, fluffy and delicious and cooked to perfection, before Kravitz pulled out a map and they decided their route for the day. They would rock-paper-scissors to decide who got to drive — Angus wasn’t allowed to play — then hitch one wagon up to the other. They’d all sit together on the lead wagon’s bench, Angus on Taako’s left and Kravitz to his right, and drive on down the mountain to begin Sizzle It Up!’s tour of the Dales.

But they had time yet.

Right now, there was nothing to do but sit on the grass and enjoy the view.


End file.
